Metallurgical furnace



- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' To all whom it may concern:

TERRENOE l VloSWEENEY, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

METALLURGICAL FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 391,980, dated October30, 1888.

Application filed March 14, 1888.

Be it known that I. TERRENCE MoSwEn- NEY, ofAllegheny, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Metallurgical Furnaces, of which improvement thefollowing is a specification.

My invention more particularly relates to paddling and heating furnaces,although readily adaptable to other forms of metallurgical furnacesdesigned for the combustion of solid fuel; and its object is to effectthe application of the regenerative principle of heating and the use ofgaseous fuel in puddling and heating furnaces of theordinary'construction without material delay or expense and withoutinvolving such radical change in the present form of this class offurnaces as would prevent them from being readily adapted to the use ofsolid fuel if the same should at any time become necessary or desirable.The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

The accompanying drawing is a vertical longitudinal central sectionthrough a pudd1ingfurnace of the ordinary construction with myimprovement applied thereto.

The furnace shown is of the usual form and construction of thoseheretofore used with solid fuel, having a hearth, 1, connected at oneend by a downwardly-inclined exit-flue, 2, with a stack, 3, andcommunicating at the other end by a throat or passage located above abridge-wall, 5, with a combustion or fire chamber, 4, which is providedwith a proper grate and firedoor. In the application of my invention tosuch construction of furnace regenerative chambers 6 and 7 are builtabove the combustion-chamber and the neck of the furnace, respectively,said chambers being provided with the usual arrangement of checker-work,as shown. The chambers 6 and 7 are connected by lines 8 and 9,respectively, with the valve-chamber 10, which is provided with anair-inlet, 11, and is also connected with the stack 3 by a flue, 12,said flue entering the stack at a point above the exit-flue 2, Theregenerative chambers are connected by short fines 13 and 14 with thecombustioncha'mber 4 and the exit-flue 2 at points near their entranceinto the hearth 1, and in order to insure a proper impact of the flameand Serial No. 267,157. (No model.)

products of combustion upon the metal on the hearth I provide dependingwalls or curtains 15, whereby the flame is deflected downward as itenters the hearth, and is, as it were, held down against the bottom ofthe hearth by the action of the draft through the opposite flue.

Gas'is introduced into the furnace by pipes or burners 16, so arrangedin the combustionchamber 4 and exit-flue 2 that the gas escaping fromsaid burners will commingle with the hot air from the regenerativechambers. The cXit-flueZ is closed at a point between the stack and theentrance of the flue 13, either by brickwork or a removable damper, 17,and the gratebars are also covered in any suitable manner, therebypreventing any inflow of air to the hearth except through theregenerative chambers.

In order to restore a furnace provided with the accessories abovedescribed to condition for the use of solid fuel, it is only necessaryto close the fines 13 and 14, which can be effected by means ofbrick-work or by a damper, and to remove the wall or damper17 and thecovering of the grate-bars. It will be seen that the addition ofregenerative and gas-burning members to an ordinary furnace may, undermy invention, be made Without any material change in the furnace proper,and in such manner as to render the use of solid fuel again practicable,whenever desired, by an expeditious and comparatively inexpensive changeof flue-openings and restoration of grate'open-v ings.

I am aware that regenerative chambers located above the hearth of afurnace and communicating directly therewith have been heretoforeproposed, and such construction, there fore, I disclaim. So far,however, as my knowledge and information extend, the furnaces have notbeen of the ordinary type, but have been specially constructed andcombined with the regenerative chambers for the use of gas eous fuel,and a substantial reconstruction would be required to admit of the useof solid fuel.

I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent Thecombination, with a regenerative furnace having a fire-chamber of thetype adapted to the use of solid fuel, a hearth communicating therewith,an exit-flue leading from the opposite side of the hearth, and a stack,of a removable wall or partition located in the exitflue and closingcommunication through the same between the hearth and the stack, a pairof regenerative chambers located above the fuel-chamber and theexit-flue, respectively, fines connecting said regenerative chamberswith the fire-chamber and with the exit-flue on the inner side of itsWall or partition, re-

spectively, gas-supply pipes leading into the fire-chamber and exit-flueadjacent to said connecting-Hues, flues connecting the regenerativechambers with a common valve-chamber, and a flue leading from saidva1ve-chamber to [5 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my 20 hand.

TERRENOE MOSWEENEY.

Witnesses:

DARWIN S. WOLCOTT, R. H. WHIITLESEY.

